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It's accounting — specifically purchase accounting, Gerard Cassidy of RBC Capital Markets says in a Q&A. The problem will persist until the economy and the real estate market improve further, he warns.
May 7
Central Bank in Stillwater, Minn., is buying another distressed bank.
The bank, which has more than doubled its assets with its acquisitions of six failed banks over the last three years, announced Tuesday that it has a deal to buy the struggling Bank of Naples in Florida.
The deal for the $147 million-asset Bank of Naples would give the $1.2 billion-asset Central two branches in southwest Florida to go along with its 19 in Minnesota and Wisconsin. It entered the state in October 2009 when it took over the failed Commerce Bank of Southwest Florida in nearby Fort Myers.
News of its deal for Bank of Naples was first reported by the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal.
Like many South Florida banks, Bank of Naples has been battered by the state's real estate bust. The 12-year-old bank has lost more than $30 million in the last two years combined and at Dec. 31 nearly 15% of its loans were at least 90 days past due, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data. The bank has been undercapitalized for most of the past year.
"The past several years have been a very challenging time for our bank," Bank of Naples Chairman Elliot Kaplan said in the release. "Our partnership with Central Bank will allow us to continue to meet the needs of our customers while delivering to them the highest level of service that they have come to expect."
The banks did not disclose a sale price. The deal is expected to close within 30 to 60 days.
